Acee: Holiday Bowl features a team in blue, gold that can't score

Baylor's Terrance Lloyd reaches in as UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley tries to pass during the first quarter of the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego on Thursday.
Hayne Palmour IV

Easy does it, Chargers fans so eager to find out who will replace Norv Turner.

While Mora possesses at least one qualification Spanos would like his new head coach to meet, in that Mora has been a head coach before, too much should not be read into the friendly exchange. Spanos was at the game to see his nephew, UCLA fullback Phillip Ruhl.

And besides, how rare is it of late to witness two teams with winning records play at Qualcomm Stadium? Or a postseason game, for that matter?

Plus, it was probably nice for Spanos to stick around and see an offense actually score – though just like Spanos’ blue-and-gold-wearing team, it was not UCLA’s offense doing much of the scoring in what ended up being a limp-to-the-finish 49-26 rout by Baylor.

Now, getting past any debate over whether Mora’s 31-33 record (and one postseason appearance) in four seasons as an NFL head coach are impressive enough to merit consideration, one bonus Mora would almost certainly bring is that he would retain Chargers defensive coordinator John Pagano, who has been only slightly short of brilliant in his first season directing a Chargers defense sans an elite pass rusher and with only sporadic support from the offense.

Pagano was on the field and in the UCLA locker room prior to the game and on the Bruins sideline during the game. His relationship with Mora dates to their time on Mora’s father’s New Orleans Saints staff in the mid-1990s. And if not for the Chargers finally wising up and elevating Pagano to defensive coordinator last January, Pagano might have been coaching in this game, as Mora had tabbed him as his defensive coordinator.

Henceforth, as we move on to discussing what happened in the 35th Holiday Bowl, there will be only fleeting reference to the UCLA defense, which did little positive outside setting up the Bruins offense for its only touchdown of the first three quarters.

This matchup of first-time Holiday participants might have been reminiscent of the old-time shootouts that made this bowl a must-watch – that is, had UCLA’s offense not been lost somewhere along Interstate 5.

Baylor punted to end its first possession, then took a 14-0 lead before punting again. That was the only interruption before Baylor extended the lead to 21-0.

The first and third Baylor scoring drive lasted a combined three minutes, 10 seconds. Baylor then turned the ball over, setting up the 21-yard TD drive by UCLA. Back-to-back Bears scoring drives, consuming a total of 3:01, followed to make the halftime score 35-7.

Baylor’s quick strikes were typical of the nation’s No.5 scoring offense, which entered the game with 40 touchdown drives that lasted two minutes or less.

The over/under for Thursday night’s game was set by oddsmakers at 82 points, and that seemed conservative, considering the two offenses came in averaging a combined 79 points scored and 64 points allowed.